Miron said that Maffett was selected after a nationwide search was conducted to fill the vacancy of the department's second-in-command, because of the retirement earlier this year of Michael Hostetter.

Maffett held a number of assistant chief positions with the Columbia fire department, which is about four times larger than Stratford's. His last position there was assistant chief of human resources. He is also the first black firefighter in the upper ranks of Stratford's firefighting force.

Maffett joined Columbia's fire department is 1972 and rose through the ranks. He became a captain in 1987 and was named an assistant chief in 1987.

Columbia is also South Carolina's capital city, as well as its largest.

In June, the town hired James J. Cavanaugh, a former Waterbury fire chief and the town's interim chief since January, as the fire chief. Together, the two men have more than 71 years' experience in fighting fires, and both come from departments much larger and more complex that Stratford's.

Maffett will be paid a salary of $85,000, town officials said.

"The challenges that we face requires that type of experience," Miron said. "At this time, in this place, this is exactly the type of experience that we need in Stratford."

He added that this combined experience will "bring the Fire Department to the next level of service delivery for the people in our town."

Maffett said that Columbia has more than 30 fire stations and about 400 firefighters. "I feel that I will do what is necessary to build on the vision of Chief Cavanaugh," he said.

"Across the nation, the trend is to expand service to the public," said Cavanaugh at the announcement ceremony that took place in Town Hall. "Fire departments realize that their jobs are more than what they were traditionally. We have to get more into EMS and rescue and other services, like public education and fire prevention."

Town officials noted that during Maffett's career in Columbia, the fire department changed its official name from Columbia Fire Services to Columbia Fire and Rescue in the early 1990s.

The mayor's office said that two consulting firms, Randi Frank Consulting of Wallingford and Slavin Management Consultants of Norcross, Ga., assisted in the national search for the new deputy chief.